The Miami Marlins could not ask for a better rotation setup coming out of the All-Star break.
Against a Milwaukee Brewers team sitting near the top of baseball, Miami is expected to have Sandy Alcantara, Max Meyer and Eury Prez available for the weekend series. This is a boon for Miami, as they can’t expect to outslug the high flying Brewers offense for three straight games. If Miami is going to win this series, it likely needs to do it through run prevention, and timely offense.
Advertisement
That is why the trio is so important.
Miami’s Rotation Gives Them a Real Chance
Eury Perez throws a pitch against the Athletics | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Alcantara, Meyer and Prez all help the Marlins prevent runs, but they do it in different ways.
Meyer has been the best performer of the three. He enters the series at 9-1 with a 2.58 ERA and 116 strikeouts, and his success comes from a different formula then the other two. Meyer is built around breaking stuff. Baseball Savant lists his sweeper and slider as his two most-used pitches, and both have generated strong whiff numbers. His slider has produced a 41.0% whiff rate, while his sweeper sits at 34.7%.
Advertisement
With two of the better breaking pitches in the league, Meyer gives Miami a real chance to keep Milwaukee’s bats quiet.
Even in his older age, Alcantara remains a tone-setter. His season numbers are not quite at peak Cy Young level, but a 10-5 record, 3.99 ERA and 100 strikeouts is still solid production. His value comes from variety and power. According to Baseball Savant, Alcantara relies on a deep pitch mix led by his sinker, changeup and four-seam fastball. His sinker averages 97.3 mph, while his changeup sits around 91.0 mph, both well above average in terms of velocity. This gives him the ability to overwhelm hitters while pitching for groundballs and weak contact.
Prez has the best raw stuff of the group. He enters the series with a 3.78 ERA and 95 strikeouts, and his fastball gives him a different kind of ceiling. The pitch averages 98.1 mph and features strong movement, giving Prez the ability to blow hitters away while still mixing in enough secondary stuff to keep them from sitting on his fastball.
Advertisement
The Brewers will test them. But if Alcantara, Meyer and Prez are sharp, Miami has the exact formula needed to win this series and make a statement to the rest of the league
Today’s best reads
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/marlins/onsi as Marlins Will Get Their Best Pitching Test Against Brewers.
